The 2021 Players Championship was the 47th Players Championship and was played March 11–14 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. It was the fortieth edition held at the Stadium Course; the 2020 tournament was abandoned before the first round was completed, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Justin Thomas shot a four-under 68 in the final round for 274 (−14) to win his first Players, one stroke ahead of runner-up Lee Westwood, the 54-hole leader. Defending champion Rory McIlroy (2019) missed the 36-hole cut.
Venue
Course layout
Source:
Field The field consists of 154 players meeting various criteria; they include tournament winners on the PGA Tour since the previous Players Championship, recent winners of major championships, The Players and World Golf Championships, and leading players in the FedEx Cup standings from the current and preceding seasons. The field was expanded from the usual 144 with the late decision to include the top 125 players from the 2019–20 FedEx Cup standings.
Eligibility criteria This list details the eligibility criteria for the 2021 Players Championship and the players who qualified under them; any additional criteria under which players were eligible is indicated in parentheses.
1. Winners of official PGA Tour events since the last completed Players Championship (2019)
Daniel Berger (15,17) Patrick Cantlay (13,15,17) Paul Casey (15,17) Cameron Champ (15) Stewart Cink Corey Conners (15) Bryson DeChambeau (5,12,13,15,17) Tyler Duncan (15) Dylan Frittelli (15) Sergio García (2,15,17) Brian Gay (15) Branden Grace (15) Lanto Griffin (15,17) Tyrrell Hatton (12,15,17) Jim Herman (15) Max Homa (14,15,17) Viktor Hovland (15,17) Im Sung-jae (15,17) Dustin Johnson (2,5,8,15,17) Kang Sung-hoon (15) Kim Si-woo (3,15) Kevin Kisner (9,15,17) Jason Kokrak (15,17) Martin Laird Andrew Landry (15) Nate Lashley (15) Marc Leishman (15,17) Shane Lowry (4,15,17) Graeme McDowell (15) Rory McIlroy (3,11,12,15,17) Collin Morikawa (6,8,15,17) Sebastián Muñoz (15) Kevin Na (15,17) Joaquín Niemann (15,17) Carlos Ortiz (15,17) Ryan Palmer (15,17) Pan Cheng-tsung (15) J. T. Poston (15) Jon Rahm (13,15,17) Chez Reavie (15) Patrick Reed (2,8,15,17) Adam Scott (14,15,17) Webb Simpson (3,15,17) Cameron Smith (15,17) Robert Streb (15) Hudson Swafford (15) Nick Taylor (15) Justin Thomas (6,10,15,17) Michael Thompson (15) Brendon Todd (15,17) Richy Werenski (15) Gary Woodland (5,15,17)
Harris English (15,17), Brooks Koepka (5,6,10,15,17), Matthew Wolff (15,17) and Tiger Woods (2,7,15) did not play.
2. Recent winners of the Masters Tournament (2016–2020) Danny Willett did not play.
3. Recent winners of The Players Championship (2015–2019)
Jason Day (6,15,17) Rickie Fowler (15)
4. Recent winners of The Open Championship (2015–2019)
Zach Johnson (15) Francesco Molinari (12) Jordan Spieth (5,15) Henrik Stenson
5. Recent winners of the U.S. Open (2015–2020)
6. Recent winners of the PGA Championship (2015–2020)
Jimmy Walker
7. Recent winners of the Tour Championship (2017–2018)
Xander Schauffele (11,15,17)
8. Recent winners of the WGC Championship (2018–2021)
Phil Mickelson (15)
9. Recent winners of the WGC Match Play (2018–2019)
Bubba Watson (15)
10. Recent winners of the WGC Invitational (2017–2020) Hideki Matsuyama (15,17)
11. Recent winners of the WGC-HSBC Champions (2017–2019) Justin Rose (17) did not play.
12. Recent winners of the Arnold Palmer Invitational (2018–2021)
13. Recent winners of the Memorial Tournament (2017–2020)
Jason Dufner
14. Recent winners of the Genesis Invitational (2020–2021)
15. The top 125 players who earned the most FedEx Cup points from the start of the 2019–20 season to February 29, 2021
An Byeong-hun Abraham Ancer (17) Ryan Armour Keegan Bradley Sam Burns Wyndham Clark Austin Cook Joel Dahmen Cameron Davis Tony Finau (17) Matt Fitzpatrick (17) Tommy Fleetwood (17) Lucas Glover Talor Gooch Emiliano Grillo Adam Hadwin James Hahn Brian Harman Scott Harrington Russell Henley Harry Higgs Bo Hoag Charley Hoffman Tom Hoge Billy Horschel (17) Mackenzie Hughes Charles Howell III Mark Hubbard Matt Jones Chris Kirk Russell Knox Matt Kuchar (17) Danny Lee Lee Kyoung-hoon Luke List Adam Long Peter Malnati Denny McCarthy Tyler McCumber Maverick McNealy Troy Merritt Matthew NeSmith Alex Norén Henrik Norlander Louis Oosthuizen (17) Pat Perez Scott Piercy Ian Poulter Doc Redman Patrick Rodgers Rory Sabbatini Scottie Scheffler (17) Robby Shelton Kyle Stanley Brendan Steele Sepp Straka Kevin Streelman Brian Stuard Vaughn Taylor Cameron Tringale Harold Varner III Aaron Wise Zhang Xinjun
Zac Blair and Bud Cauley did not play.
16. The top 125 players who fulfilled the terms of a major medical extension
Charl Schwartzel
17. The top 50 players from the Official World Golf Ranking as of March 1, 2021
Christiaan Bezuidenhout Robert MacIntyre Victor Perez Lee Westwood Bernd Wiesberger Will Zalatoris
18. The Senior Players champion from the previous year
Jerry Kelly
19. Remaining positions and alternates are filled through the current season's FedEx Cup standings as of March 1, 2021
Doug Ghim (63rd) Patton Kizzire (73rd) Andrew Putnam (78th) Cameron Percy (89th) Jhonattan Vegas (92nd) Anirban Lahiri (104th) Kramer Hickok (106th) Kristoffer Ventura (110th) Steve Stricker (113th)
20. The top 125 players in the 2019–20 FedEx Cup regular season standings
Scott Brown Brice Garnett Beau Hossler Tom Lewis Keith Mitchell Ryan Moore Sam Ryder Adam Schenk Brandt Snedeker Scott Stallings
Notes
Round summaries First round Thursday, March 11, 2021 Friday, March 12, 2021
Sergio García, champion in 2008, took the first round lead with a 7-under-par 65, two strokes ahead of Brian Harman. Defending champion (2019) Rory McIlroy was 14 strokes back at 79. Play was suspended due to darkness, with 21 players on the course.
PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Sergio García 65 −72 Brian Harman 67 −5T3 Corey Conners 68 −4 Matt Fitzpatrick Shane LowryT6 Bryson DeChambeau 69 −3 Tom Hoge Denny McCarthy Rory Sabbatini Lee Westwood
Second round Friday, March 12, 2021 Saturday, March 13, 2021
Lee Westwood led with a 9-under-par score of 135, a stroke ahead of Matt Fitzpatrick. The first round leader, Sergio García, had a 72 and was tied for third place with Chris Kirk who had a second round 65. Play was again suspended due to darkness, with 8 players still to complete their second rounds. 71 players scoring even par or better, made the cut.
PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Lee Westwood 69-66=135 −92 Matt Fitzpatrick 68-68=136 −8T3 Sergio García 65-72=137 −7 Chris Kirk 72-65=137T5 Bryson DeChambeau 69-69=138 −6 Doug Ghim 71-67=138 Brian Harman 71-67=138 Charley Hoffman 70-68=138 Im Sung-jae 72-66=138 Denny McCarthy 69-69=138
Third round Saturday, March 13, 2021
Lee Westwood had a third round of 68 to lead by two strokes over Bryson DeChambeau. The previous week, the two had played together in the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, DeChambeau beating Westwood by a stroke. Justin Thomas shot a third round 64 to be tied for third place with Doug Ghim.
PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Lee Westwood 69-66-68=203 −132 Bryson DeChambeau 69-69-67=205 −11T3 Doug Ghim 71-67-68=206 −10 Justin Thomas 71-71-64=206T5 Paul Casey 73-67-67=207 −9 Brian Harman 71-67-69=207 Jon Rahm 72-68-67=207T8 Matt Fitzpatrick 68-68-72=208 −8 Sergio García 65-72-71=208 Chris Kirk 72-65-71=208
Final round Sunday, March 14, 2021
Justin Thomas had a final round four-under-par 68 to finish with a score of 274, 14-under-par, to win by a stroke over Lee Westwood. Thomas was four shots behind Westwood after a bogey at the 8th hole. He then went birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie from the 9th to the 12th holes to take a two stroke lead. Westwood had a birdie at the 14th but made a three-putt bogey at the short 17th to drop two behind Thomas, level with his playing partner Bryson DeChambeau, who had eagled the 16th hole. Westwood had a birdie at the final hole to finish runner-up, with DeChambeau tied for third place with Brian Harman.
Champion(c) = past champion PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)1 Justin Thomas 71-71-64-68=274 −14 2,700,0002 Lee Westwood 69-66-68-72=275 −13 1,635,000T3 Bryson DeChambeau 69-69-67-71=276 −12 885,000 Brian Harman 67-71-69-69=276T5 Paul Casey 73-67-67-70=277 −11 579,375 Talor Gooch 71-68-71-67=2777 Corey Conners 68-72-72-66=278 −10 506,2508 Shane Lowry 68-74-69-68=279 −9 468,750T9 Daniel Berger 74-68-71-67=280 −8 339,375 Matt Fitzpatrick 68-68-72-72=280 Sergio García (c) 65-72-71-72=280 Charles Howell III 73-70-71-66=280 Kim Si-woo (c) 72-70-67-71=280 Jason Kokrak 70-72-71-67=280 Victor Perez 73-71-69-67=280 Jon Rahm 72-68-67-73=280